floodmidwife

The dirty dozen: common mistakes in essay writing and how to avoid them

Undergraduate research essays generally suffer from particular problems. This brief document highlights the most common problems and what can be done to avoid such problems. If your essays ends up being afflicted with any of these problems, we will put a number (with a circle around it) that pertains back to the listed problems in this document. For example if you find the number ‘3’ written on your essay, it pertains to problem ‘3’ thus you should keep a copy of this document to interpret your essay feedback.

The Research Essay

1. Essay is not in the right format

Your essay should be:

1. In 12 point font.
2. Double spaced.
3. Margin sizes of 2.54 centimetres (top, bottom, left and right) 4. Stapled in the top left hand corner.
5. No plastic sleeves
6. Have page numbers (preferably in the format of 1 of 6, 2 or 6, 3 or 6 etc.) 7. Cleared by Turtitin plagiarism (see Moodle website for instructions) 8. Clearly state the essay title at the beginning of the essay.

2. Essay is too short or too long.

The essay is supposed to be 2,500 words in length. This does not include references or bibliography. You can go over this by 250 words if you need to (i.e. a total of 2,500 words) but it should not be less than 2,250 words. Note requirements 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 that will allow me to clearly estimate the exact amount of words, not conforming to these requirements will immediately trigger suspicions your essay is too short or too long. If you have tables or diagrams these should generally go in the body of the essay where they should then be analysed and discussed. Please contact me in advance if you
feel it is necessary to include appendixes.

3. Not answering the question

Make sure you answer the question. The best way to make sure you are doing this is to read the question carefully and to continually go back and make sure you have not strayed from the question. Highlight the key words in the question if necessary. If you talk about something that we have not asked you to talk about, you may have wasted a lot of time and hard work. If you have found that you want to modify the topic, this may be possible, but you will have to check with me that the modification is suitable and viable.

4. Not taking a position

Many of the questions posed for this subject ask you to take a position. In this type of subject, there can be more than position on a matter. Because intelligent analysis does not always come to the same conclusion, I am not always not looking for a particular answer, or an answer that is exactly as what I myself would be persuaded by. You will likely be able to be able to argue a range of positions: yes, no, yes and no, depends, etc. The main thing I am interested in is how well you support your argument with reasoning and evidence. Towards this end, you should draw on the relevant literature, theories and concepts to make your argument.

You may opt to play the role of the persuader: seeking to bring the reader around to your way of thinking. In this role you would be showing the merit of your analysis and revealing the weaknesses of opposing analysis. Alternatively, you may play the role of the judge: weighing up the evidence and making a verdict. In any event, make sure you understand the opposing arguments as this will deepen your understanding of your own position.

5. Essay does not make sense

Make sure that you understand what you are talking about. If you cannot understand a term or word (for example Export Orientated Growth), look it up
in a dictionary of economics. If you cannot understand a book you are reading, go to the online databases and see if you can find a review of the book (it will provide a summary of the book’s main arguments) then go back to the book. If you are finding an article hard reading, then find a different article on the same subject ? you may then find it easier to go back to the original article. You can also email or contact me with questions. However, do not leave requests for help until the last minute: it will too late to incorporate the feedback into your essay.

6. Essay does not have an introduction

For a 2,000 word essay we would rather not have an abstract. However, you definitely need a clear introduction that tells the reader what you are going to look at and how you are going to look at it. There are number of ways of doing this. A good start is to paraphrase, rather than repeat, the essay question. You might then describe how it will be answered. You may also like to mention any arguments you will be making or positions you will be taking. Such a structure would read something like this:

In this essay I am looking at [paraphrase question]. I would be doing this by firstly looking at [blah]. This is followed by [blah, blah]. The next section will be [blah, blah, blah]. Finally, there will be an examination of [blah,blah, blah, blah]. The essay will be arguing that [blah].

This approach signals to the reader what is coming and in what order. It also provides a structure for the rest of your essay. You may not be able to write the introduction until the end of the essay, or the introduction may evolve as you write, or you may be able to write the introduction at the beginning and let it serve as a blueprint for the essay. It doesn’t matter how you write your introduction, just as long as the final essay has got an introduction.

7. One and two sentence paragraphs

Try not to have orphaned one and two-sentence paragraphs in essays. If you see a one or two-sentence paragraph ask yourself whether it, (a) belongs in the next, or preceding, paragraph or, (b) whether it needs further elaboration and support. You may also reflect on whether your point needs to be raised at all. Be aware that depth is generally better than breadth: try not to spread your focus too widely.

8. Avoid the use of dot points and the excessive use of headings.

In an essay the use of dot points should be used sparingly, if at all. With a little bit of effort you can find that most batteries of dot points can be reconstituted into paragraphs that flow so much better to the eye of the reader. In an essay of 2,000 words there should only be three of four headings (perhaps less). Headings delineate major sections of the essay. A good alternative to a heading or sub-heading is an opening topic sentence that broadly defines the content of the paragraph.

9. Not enough references

If you are having trouble finding material for your essay (for example if all the books are borrowed), I recommend using the online databases such as Expanded Academic ASAP and ABI/Inform or Lexus/Nexus. You will be able to find good academically refereed articles, newspapers articles etc, to use in your essay. As a general rule, the more reading you do, and can show that you have done the better will be your essay. A good essay generally has a dozen references.

10. Poor punctuation and grammar

It is important that as a third year/fourth year student that your punctuation, grammar and expression is of a high standard. You should print out the final draft of your essay and read it aloud, this is usually highly revealing and you will find it can improve sentence construction and punctuation quite a bit. Another way to check your essay is to get a friend to read over the final draft of your work (perhaps you cam return the favour
for them). Your friend will let you know what is difficult to follow and where the glitches are in your essay.

11. Poor referencing

I would like you to use the Harvard system of reference. There is an excellent and easy Academic Referencing Tool that will tell you how to exactly reference every type of reference (books, journals, web etc) within the Harvard system at:

http://www.lib.latrobe.edu.au/help/style-guides.php#LaTrobe

You can also purchase (for next to nothing via La Trobe) a copy of EndNote which will automatically manage your referencing for you. I would highly recommend this software, and the associated tutorials, for anybody who is thinking of doing further study.

12. Plagiarism

Do not plagiarise (i.e. copy) from the literature. There are severe penalties for doing this and you will most likely be caught. If you have read widely and understood the main arguments, you should have no problems in writing an essay in your own words augmented by a few direct quotes and some (referenced) paraphrasing. You can quote the work of others, but make sure you identify that this is what you are doing. Be careful to cite the author when you are discussing particular concepts developed by that author. All statistics need to be cited (and will require specific pages numbers). If you are confused about whether or not you are crossing the line into plagiarism, this is in itself not a crime, just ask me for help in resolving the problem. The Turnitin link on LMS can also help detect where plagiarism has inadvertently occurred. You may also find it useful to look at:

http://phdessay.com

http://www.latrobe.edu.au/learning/referencing.html;

http://www.latrobe.edu.au/learning/;

Parting advice: read some good undergraduate essays

I have put up some good examples of undergraduate writing on Moodle. These examples show what undergraduates can produce. Essays are never easy for anybody to write, but it you put in an effort you may find that you can produce something you can feel really proud of.

Essay topics
1. Compare and contrast the ‘roaring twenties’ with the ‘roaring nineties’ in the United States. 2. To what extent has the Global Financial Crisis simply been a repeat of The Great Depression? 3. What were the lessons of the Great Depression?

4. Was Stalin really necessary? Could the industrialisation of the Soviet Union been carried out by a less authoritarian regime?
5. Why did Gorbachev fail?
6. How useful is the social structures of accumulation (SSA) framework in understanding economic history? Evaluate this question with reference to a particular country within a particular SSA. 7. Critically assess J A Hobson’s account of the rise of the colonial empires before 1914 8. Would Bretton Woods been more sustainable if it had more fully incorporated the Keynes plan? 9. Do you think command socialism would have worked in the Soviet Union if they had possessed better political leadership?

10. Nearly all of the distinctive institutional features of the Japanese Economy that were once seen as strengths and are now seen as weaknesses. Do you believe this shift in opinion is completely justified?

11. ‘We are all Keynesians now’. When (if at all) was this true, and why? 12. In what ways was capitalism ‘reformed’ after 1945? What were the results?

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